Machinery for softening or breaking fibrous materials



4"Sept, 17, .1929. A. KMPF 1,728,582

MACHINERY FOR SOFTENING OR BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed March l.` 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIGqL f Sept. 17, 19329. A KMPF 1,728,682

MACHINERY FOR SOFTENING ORl BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed March l. 1928 2 sheets-sheet 2 FIG. Z

Patented` Sept. 1,7, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADOLF KMPF, OF PREMNITZ, WESTHAVELLAND, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR T0 I. G. FAR- BENIND'USTRIE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, FRANKFORTON-THE MAIN, GERMANY.

AA CORPORATION -oF GERMANY i MACHINERY FOR SOFTENING 0R BREAKING FIBROUS MATERIALS Application led March 1, 1928, Serial No.i258,338, vand in Germany March 4, 1927.'

In that partof the ytextile industry concerned with artificial fibrous material, it is frequently necessary to open, i. e., to soften,

break or loosen bundles of longitudinally arranged fibres, so as to prepare them for the operations necessary for making them into textiles.

This invention relates to a machine. for performing the opening operation continuously on a continuous band of artificial fibres fed to it and in such a manner that it always operates only on so much of the continuous vband as is fed to it, so that even considerable irregularities in the speed of feeding do not create disturbance. The term a continuous band of artificial silk fibers appearing in the specification and claims indicates a raw product as obtained in the dry state in artificial fiber producing plants in the form of long perfectly straight, fiat and clean fiber bundles which consist, for instance, of about 100,000 to 2,000,000 fibers of, say `approximately 1 to 2 denier strength. These bands form a harsh, resistant mass in which the individual fibers-are about parallel, but

adhere tightly to each other. For the spinning process they must be completely opened,

that is to say, the individual fine fibers mus be separated from each other. l

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 is a sectional vlew on line V--W, Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan of a machine constructed accogding to the invention.

In Fig. 3 the bolts E of `disc A have been omitted in order to more clearly show the other parts of the machine.

As seen in Fig. 1, the hard, stiff' continuous band of fibers F enters on the left-hand side of the drawing and passes in the direction of the arrow; at the exit of the machine the band forms a mass which has lost its inflexibility and stiffness completely.

\The machine which is operated by any suitable source of power comprises the following parts: A

A bevel pinion I is driven by the shaft G provided with a coupling H. The bevel pinion I meshes with the bevel pinions K and K ofthe same diameter carried upon thel shaft D. rl`he shaft D carries also the gear y wheel C, which meshes with the gear wheel N carried upon the shaft 0, and the gear wheel C which meshes with the gear wheel L carried upon the shaft M. lThese gear wheels L and N transmit the revolving movement from the gear wheels C and C to the gear wheel P carried upon the shaft Z and the gear wheel Q carried upon the shaft Z. On the .gear wheel Q is tightly mounted the disc A and on the gear wheel P is tightly mounted the disc B'. The discs A and B carr smooth, cylindrical bolts E, arranged on t `e circumference of the disc and in such a manner that said bolts may freely rotate in their bearings. y

In order to i 4troduce the band of fibers F without difficulty, it is necessary to remove one offthe discs A or B bea-ring the bolts E. For this, purpose the disc B and the gear` Wheel L have their bearing in a side piece R which is mounted movably on the shaft D of the gear wheel C. The side piece R is moved up and down by the Wheel S which is driven by the wheel T operated by hand.

As seen from Fig. 3, the side piece R is strengthened by `another side piece R mounted also movably upon the shaft 'D. In this. manner R and R', together with the shaft Y of the wheel T, form a frame turnable around the shaft D. In contradistinction hereto,'the dise with themeshing gear wheels N and C have their bearing in the fixed standard V.

It is advantageous that the shafts Z and Z are capable of relative elastic movement while the machine is in' operation, and for this purpose the side pieces R and R are mounted subject to the action of springs X. The discs A and B sire so arranged on axes Z and Z that the bolts E on one disc engage between those ,on the other disc in themanner of teeth on intermeshing gear wheels, that is to say as it is rotated each bolt in passing through the line joining theaxes of the discs is substantiall exactly between 2 adjacent bolts of the ot er disc. If now a band'of fibres F is fed betweenthe dises A ,and B as they revolve in opposite direction,

Athen in the other.

turns over the bolts without being clamped. Indeed a powerful pull will serve to Withdraw the band from the bolts. AEach short stretch of the band as it passes the discs suffers several bents irst in one direction and It will be seen that the same eti'ect is obtained whether the band is drawn through the bolts 'while they are at rest, or the draft is effected by the discs themselves upon the firmly held band, or, finally, Whether the bolts move at a higher peripheral speed than that at which the band is caused to travel. The last case, in its application particularly to a continuous band which is to be loosened and is fed to the machine, constitutes the novelty of the present invention. For example, if the band is fed at the rate of 60 meters per minute and the peripheral speed of the circle of bolts is 120 n1etres per minute, the band in its passage through the machine receives the desired kneading and softening. The strength of this kneading and at the same time the longitudinaltension on the band can be varied by changing the depth of the engage-- ment of the circles of bolts With each other and also by varying the difference of speed between lthe band and the bolts.

In order when there is deep engagement of the circles'of bolts with each other, that is to say strong bending and kneading of the band, to diminish as much as possible the strain on the latter, the. bolts may be arranged to rotate very freely on their longitudinal axes or may be fixed and carry a sleeve freely turning on the bolt.

What claim is:-

1. The process for opening a continuous band of artificial silk fibers which comprises feeding the band between two parallel discs provided on their circumferences with interlneshing freely rotatable bolts, said discs and bolts rotating in opposite directions, the band bein` engaged and turned over the bolts withoutl becoming clamped, said discs revolving at a higher peripheral speed than that at which the band is caused to travel.

2. A machine for opening a continuous band of artificial silk ibers, said machine comprising in operative combination two parallel discs provided on their circumferences with intermeshing bolts, means for revolving the discs at the same speed in opposite directions, means for feeding the band, said bolts and said discs being so arranged that during the revolving of the discs each bolt passing through the line joining the axes of the discs lies exactly equidistant from the two adjacent bolts of the other disc without touching them.

3. A machine for opening a continuous `band of artificial silk fibers comprising in operative combination two parallel discs provided on their circumferences with intermeshing bolts, said bolts being freely Irotatable, means for revolving the discs at the same speed in opposite directions and means for feeding the band, said discs and said bolts being so arranged that during the' revolving of the discs each bolt passing through the line joining the axes of the discs lies exactly equidistant from the two adjacent bolts of the other disc Without touching them.

4. A machine for opening a continuous band of artificial silk libers comprising in operative combination a disc provided on its circumference with bolts, said disc being mounted rotatably on a base frame, a second disc provided with bolts onits circumference and mounted rotatably on a side piece, means for revolving the discs at the same speed in the opposite direction, said side plece being adjustable with respect to said base Dframe, so that the overlapping of the two discs may be increased or diminished according to the working conditions.

5. The machine claimed in claim 3 characterized by the fact that means are provided for allowing a certain elastic movement of the two discs with respect to each other.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature. 

